Tips to Learn Spanish!

When I first arrived to Sevilla as a 16-year-old girl, a junior in high school, my Spanish was interesting to say the least. I continuously said "Dónde es..." no matter how many times I was corrected, made up my own vocabulary words, and told a classroom I was the President of the United States (unknowingly to clarify). I would cry almost every day after class for the first two weeks there because I did not understand what anyone said, and my classmates laughed at me as I read the Spanish version of Hamlet out loud. I was mortified with my Spanish. 

But, I had no English. My friends barely spoke English, my teachers did not speak English, my home stay did not speak English, and I was the only foreigner in my class. I was pushed to learn and speak Spanish, or else I would continue to sulk in my self-pity. I was in Spain TO LEARN SPANISH, make friends, and become a part of a community and culture. I wanted to learn from my mistakes and laugh at them too. Now, I am a college senior who is a Spanish major, who is also now fluent. I persisted with my Spanish and it has become my second language and a comfort to me. 

Here are my top tips on how to learn Spanish or any language in general:

1:TALK TO PEOPLE: order food in Spanish, start a conversation in a coffee shop with the barista, meet with your teachers after class, etc. Get talking! 

2: Join a club: Join a gym, club, anything that sparks your interest that you can do outside of school.

3: Watch Netflix in Spanish: Watch a show in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. 

4: Put your phone language in Spanish! This helps a lot. 

5: Ask your friends to edit your homework, papers, etc. 

6: Seek correction! Tell people to correct you!

7: Have a notebook and write down every word you do not know, then look it up later!

8: Read a book in Spanish! Get your favorite English book in Spanish and read it! Highlight words you do not know.

These are some small tips that helped me learn Spanish and I know will help anyone else too!